Balotelli drops a huge hint he wants to join arsenal (may god have mercy on wenger)
Debuchy signs
Arsenal end interest in khedira
Seems like yaya toure wants out of the premier league. Van gaal tried snapping him up for 40 million but he's holding out for a move to PSG
City have said they are gonna go after Ross Barkley if he does leave
Evra going to juventus
Intermilan want hernandez which i think would be a good move for him. He needs to get starting line up football under his belt, i dont see much of a future for him at united, especially under someone as cut throat as van gaal.
Not much on our end. BR has managed to steady the ship with the signings he made but we need at least a couple of marque signings to even challenge for top 4. Although sometimes, particularly in sanchez's case theres not much we can do. The bright lights of London is a huge pull factor for spurs, arsenal and chelsea
Though one thing i havent got my head around is what ferdinand feels is at QPR for him. He's had offers from other places
True that. Traditionally LFC has never been the 'glamorous' option. This is a place where players have had their big break, like suarez and torres to name but a few. Its not a place that has managed to attract the likes of messi, ronaldo, ibrahimovic etc. Thats what i love about us - less glamourous yet 5 CL cups
God Utd fans are becoming insufferable with the whole LvG will do this, LvG will do that. Other than RVP and Rooney they are very very poor.
For Liverpool Remy is a goof signing, I still feel you guys maybe need a backup Keeper and a solid FB and some steel in midfield. Conceding 50 goals might not be good again. Gerrard seems to be on his last legs.
The challenge with the LVG situation is that its not the United supporters that I mind...back in the day when it was arsenal v tottenham and united v liverpool ... united were y second team...cantona era. I can't stand bandwagon fans of any team reds, scouse, gunners, barca ...you name it...
looking forward to an entertaining season, and I think first season in years where we will see real competition for top 4, last season was good too.
With more balance and better competition, football wins..
while I respect la liga, i hated that PL was becoming more like that with chelski and city spending, or i guess PSG and Monaco now in League1.
what a season ahead, everton with martinez, spuds with Mauricio, new dude at united, Gunners with ability to build a better team, Chelsea with JM and a point to prove after last season...looks like the only thing unchanged much is City..the new Stoke which has been great to watch, swansea..I can't wait
True that. Traditionally LFC has never been the 'glamorous' option. This is a place where players have had their big break, like suarez and torres to name but a few. Its not a place that has managed to attract the likes of messi, ronaldo, ibrahimovic etc. Thats what i love about us - less glamourous yet 5 CL cups
Which of the British teams have been able to attract the type of players you name? Ronaldo was 17 when he came to United so doesn't really count. None of the maradonnas, zidanes, romarios came to the Premier league. Simply because Italy and Spain are better places to live.
It's less of a better place to live than cultural and language similarity, similar style of play, and most importantly ...the money. Hulk did not go to zenit, or eto'o to anzhi because they are great places to live or fantastic leagues
It's less of a better place to live than cultural and language similarity, similar style of play, and most importantly ...the money. Hulk did not go to zenit, or eto'o to anzhi because they are great places to live or fantastic leagues
Hulk is ****. Anzhi got robbed.
Yeah what I meant by better place to live is that it doesn't rain all the time. Anyway here's hoping Liverpool finish mid table or worse. Can't stand Rodgers, makes me cringe.
London has high frequency of light drizzle but is way low on the list when you look at cities that get a high volume of rain. One of those little known facts :-)
Typically South American players have gone to Italy or Spain, language and higher wages for stars was one factor, Madrid and barca especially have deep pockets, and back in the day Milan, inter, juventus, napoli and even Roma and Parma spent a lot. It's calmed down since then. You see similar spending at Anzhi, PSG, Monaco, city and Chelski now but not at the level of Madrid and barca I think
It's less of a better place to live than cultural and language similarity, similar style of play, and most importantly ...the money. Hulk did not go to zenit, or eto'o to anzhi because they are great places to live or fantastic leagues
This.
A lot of Brazilian and Latin American talent head to Spain because of the same or v similar language. Culture of places like Italy is very similar as well to Latin America. While England is a bit different, also the reason why no english player heads to Europe. Mostly.
Speaking of bandwagon jumpers: I started following Barca because of Ronaldinho but I still stuck with them, not that it was difficult the past 6 years. Need an assessment of whether or not that’s considered bandwagon jumping.
I also need to pick a premier league team. I’m thinking anything but Man U because everyone and their mother seems to be a “lifelong” fan.
Yeah what I meant by better place to live is that it doesn't rain all the time. Anyway here's hoping Liverpool finish mid table or worse. Can't stand Rodgers, makes me cringe.
LOL let me guess bitter united fan. tactically rodgers is one of the best there is right now in the PL. Dont forget he took liverpool from "mid table" to a stones throw away from the title. Louis van gaal as good as he is, i can see a number of players having trouble adapting to his style. Man united's achievements in the last decade have been down to fergie and fergie alone. He was working with at best an average squad.
LOL let me guess bitter united fan. tactically rodgers is one of the best there is right now in the PL. Dont forget he took liverpool from "mid table" to a stones throw away from the title. Louis van gaal as good as he is, i can see a number of players having trouble adapting to his style. Man united's achievements in the last decade have been down to fergie and fergie alone. He was working with at best an average squad.
Yeah Rotherham United fan. How did you guess? I really don't think it was an average squad in the last decade. They had Scholes probably the best English player since gazza, Rio, vidic, van den Sar, Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov and many more. I don't think they'll have any trouble adapting. LVG is pretty much like fergie. A cock.
Rodgers is good but just comes across like a dick but then I guess he learnt that from mourinho.
Anyway back to transfers. Chambers to arsenal. Means Jenkins on will be going which is sad for him as he's a lifelong arsenal fan. Plus they have a young kid they nicked off Barca who looks good at right back so not sure what that means for him. Also the Ospina deal is done.
Lovren is at a medical for Liverpool and he looks a solid buy. Will Southampton have 11 players to start the season?
lukaku signed for everton - i didnt see that coming tbh
Liverpool get origi but he’s gonna be loaned out this season back to lille, which is all fine and well but sturridge cant carry the load himself for this entire season, unless BR has something planned for january transfer window.
WHY OH WHYYY are we getting rid of agger From what iv seen markovic is a class act (pre season games)
And the one that i liked - hernandez is off to either athletico or inter. i think he should have gone to la liga from the start. His style of play suits la liga perfectly
oh and you were right x2 drogba is back at chelsea
Word is LVG made luke shaw train on his own for one of the pre season games cuz of his fitness level. In LVG’s defence he has inherited quite an unbalanced squad.
Since im in the U.S right now im gonna at least try and get along to a pre season game
La Liga has a few excellent teams but after that they are just avg, this reflects in the results season after season.
In each league you have the few perennial powers, but they shift and there appears to be more competition.
I could be mistaken and would need to review recent tables and win loss draw stats, but a couple years ago it was very obvious that la Liga was not competitive as a league.
the emphasis is much more on technical ability in liga (or the continent for that matter) as opposed to speed and stamina and general fitness in the epl. thats the first difference. second is that we have 4 Champion league spots, of which you have l'pool, arsenal, city, united, chelsea, spurs and everton all vying for those spots. Thats what makes it so exciting. La liga has real madrid, barca and athletico. But on the flip side these sides have gotten much further in the champions league than any of our teams so its a toss up really....anyways thats my take
On the issue of technical ability, joey barton came out with a blog highlighting the benefits of futsal and how it could be used to improve technical ability of british players in particular. ill try and dig it up
the technical ability of homegrown players is a huge issue and it is shown in the national performances, the league however has many non homegrown players. Spanish teams have had a good grip on CL recently, until Barca got slapped aside, but recall the performance of PL teams in previous seasons, I recall semi finals with 3 english teams, or 2.
As far as the continent goes, italy went up and down, same with portugal and a couple of their super teams. France has been somewhat underwhelmig as a league recently too.
the technical prowess of the local talent is definitely a factor, but also the spending levels of real, barca have been pretty high where they really have the quality and depth, that even their bench can beat most teams starting 11.
From what iv seen markovic is a class act (pre season games)